Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Fr Zacharias from Holy Momastery of John the Forerunner, Essex, England,
speaks on the nature of what the Church Fathers call the Spiritual Heart, the Nous* (Intellect); and their union through prayer. Please click here for the video talk, courtesy of Pemptousia

Note

*The word
'mind' or 'intellect'(nous) as used by Fr Zacharias in this talk, does not refer to
reason, discursive thinking or logical thinking, but to the organ of the
soul by which the soul can 'know', that is directly apprehend,
spiritual realities; not by drawing conclusions, but directly under the
inspiration of divine Grace. The Greek language makes a distinction
between nous (translated as 'mind' here) which is the spiritual organ of
knowledge of the soul; and diania or 'reason' the organ of knowledge of
the brain through the senses and discourse (logical thinking). Orthodox Christian
anthropology affirms that man has both organs of knowledge. Thoughts,
reason and the senses can interact with the nous, both in a positive and
in a negative manner, and in that way affect the heart, the spiritual
center of man.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

"Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."Our Lord Jesus Christ in Rev. 3:20

"At the edge of your heart the Lord is standing with a tall candle that burns without smoking or melting. The Lord is standing and waiting at your invitation, to bring the candle into your heart and enlighten it, to burn up all the fear in your heart, all its selfish passions and all its ugly desires, and to drive out of your heart all the smoke and foul stench. At the edge of your mind the Lord is standing with His wisdom and with His Word*, ready, at your invitation, to enter into it and drive out all its foolish thoughts, all its filthy fancies, and all its mistaken notions, and to erase from your mind all nonexistent images — the Lord is standing and waiting to introduce His reason, His seals, and His words." St Nikolai Velimirovich in Prayers by the Lake LXXIX, Great Lakes Graphics, Skokie, IL 1999

Note*The original English translation of this prayer, here reads 'tongue' but in conversation with a Serbian friend I found out that the Serbian word translated as tongue means 'logos',Word which communicates life.

Friday, December 12, 2014

This homily is available from IOCS and posted on Ancient Faith Radio here

I find it fascinating that St Ephraim writes that "God entered her through her ear". Jacob of Serug also writes in his first homily On the Mother of God that "The Word entered and dwelt in her within the guarded seals", and "But come and see the Watcher (Archangel Gabriel-in the Syriac tradition angels are sometimes called 'Watchers') instilling salvation into Mary's ear and removing the insinuation of the serpent from her and consoling her".

Dr Sebastian Brock in his Introduction to Mary Hansbury's translation of four homilies by Jacob of Serug (a non-Chalcedonian Syriac writer of the 5th century), notes that, "the object (of this detail of entering through her ear) being to provide a contrast with Eve's disobedience through listening to the serpent, sin being pictured as entering through her ear, like poison, as the serpent spoke" from 'On the Mother of God p.10 by Jacob of Serug, trans. by Mary Hansbury, Introduction by Dr Sebastian Brock, SVS Press, 1998.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Fr
Zacharias Zacharou in his book The Hidden Man of the Heart, explains
the gift of speaking in tongues and why it was given to the Church on
the day of Pentecost. "We
know that the gift of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) was given to
the nascent Church for a specific purpose.

The old Israel had become
accustomed to worshiping and praying in a largely external manner, and
when the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, He wanted this to change.
His intention, therefore was to teach the people to pray in spirit, in
the 'hidden man of the heart' (I Peter 3:4). p.176

Those
who prayed in tongues were happy being certain of one thing: God had
broken into them and was at work in them. St Paul distinguishes between
prayer in the spirit (pneuma) and prayer in the mind (nous* - see note) and
identifies prayer in the spirit with praying in foreign tongues. (1 Cor. 14:15 and 1 Cor 14:14).

"For
St Paul, spirit and mind are almost identical: he sometimes says that
the highest purpose of Christianity is the renewal of the spirit and
sometimes the renewal of the nous* (mind). Nevertheless in trying to
distinguish between the two, I would say that the spirit is present in
the mind as something higher, deeper than the mind itself - that is
revealed through the mind, just as the soul can be said to be revealed
through the emotions". p.177

Prayer
in the spirit is identified with prayer in tongues, when man's spirit
is aware of the irruption of God into his life. In this kind of prayer
the highest faculty of the human being is inspired by God, receiving his
energy. Man then surrenders to the breath of the Holy Spirit, .., and
the Spirit intercedes with unutterable groanings (Rom. 8:26) for those
in whom He dwells, sometimes with words which are beyond the
understanding of the psychological man.

In
prayer of the mind, by contrast, the mind rises toward God in pious
thought and godly desire. Such prayer is characterized by holy
contrition or joy, but it is not liable to surrender to the great
impetus and boundless spiritual exaltation we have just described. A
degree of control is exercised by the person who prays in the mind
(nous*): he is able to direct his thoughts, desires and feelings.

Total
surrender to glossolalia (speaking in tongues) involves a certain loss
of control: it is an explosion of grace and joy, and while we are fully
aware that God is within us, somehow we deny ourselves any awareness of
our fellow members of the Body.

The
best explanation for God's gift of tongues to the early Church lies in
the necessity of teaching newly converted Christians to pray with their
heart rather than just externally, as they were likely to have been used
to doing, But the Church soon discovered a deeper way to educate the
heart, for She was concerned to cultivate the inner man. She discovered
the invocation of the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And little by
little, the Prayer of the Heart replaced the gift of speaking in
tongues. The Jesus Prayer is a way of praying in the spirit without
loosing any control of the spirit, and therefore, without running the
risk of usurping the space of the other members of the Body of Christ.

In
conclusion to speak in tongues or to pray in the spirit is indeed to
immerse our nous in the sea of the Spirit. But the Apostle himself
prefers to draw us in to shore, that we avoid even the possibility of
disorder in the Body of the Church, and that everything be done for the
sake of the edification of the people.

If
this gift (speaking in tongues) has indeed been given temporarily to
some people, perhaps it will enable them to discover the true unbroken
Tradition of the Church, the Tradition of the Prayer of the Heart, which
is the surest and humblest prayer in the edification, inspiration and
salvation of man.. Through this prayer we receive the greatest of all
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift which will heal our nature and
strengthen it 'guiding us into all truth' (John 16:3). It will enable us
to bear the fullness of divine love. And this gift will never outlive
its purpose - indeed it will accompany us beyond the grave.

It is important that we understand this phenomenon of glossolalia- we must not be seduced by it. But
let us above all be gracious to those who believe they have experienced
this gift and gently point out to them that it is the beginning of
something far greater that will lead them to the heart of the
Tradition.

*The word
'mind' (nous) as used by Fr Zacharias in this text, does not refer to
reason, discursive thinking or logical thinking, but to the organ of the
soul by which the soul can 'know', that is directly apprehend,
spiritual realities; not by drawing conclusions, but directly under the
inspiration of divine Grace. The Greek language makes a distinction
between nous (translated as 'mind' here) which is the spiritual organ of
knowledge of the soul; and diania or 'reason' the organ of knowledge of
the brain through the senses and discourse (logical thinking). Orthodox Christian
anthropology affirms that man has both organs of knowledge. Thoughts,
reason and the senses can interact with the nous, both in a positive and
in a negative manner, and in that way affect the heart, the spiritual
center of man.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

"Slander is a great evil. Just as the little rudder steers the whole ship wherever it wants, likewise the tongue leads a person either to good or to evil. The holy fathers greatly censure judging other people’s sins, faults, or evil habits. When we judge our brother, we condemn ourselves to a great sin. But when we cover our brother, God will also protect us from great sins. When we expose our brother, we drive the grace of God away from us and He permits us to fall into the same sins so that we learn that we are all weak and that the grace of God supports us. Whoever guards his tongue guards his soul from great sins and grievous falls. The chief cause of criticism and slander is pride and egotism, because one considers oneself better than the others. For this reason it is very beneficial for a person to think of himself as below everyone, so that he considers his brother than him in order that, with the help of God, he may be delivered from this evil.

If something pushes you to criticism in any matter regarding a brother or the monastery, try to pray about the matter instead, without passing it under the judgment of your reason. If you turn within yourself through prayer, humility, and mourning, you will find a spiritual treasure—just keep pride and criticism far from you.

Be attentive, my child, that you not judge any soul. For God permits the one who judges his neighbor to fall, so that he learns to have sympathy for his weak brother. The mercy of God supports all of us, but if we become proud, God will remove His grace and we shall become worse than the others. It is one thing to condemn someone and another to be fought by thoughts of condemnation. To condemn is a terrible passion, but to be fought by such thoughts and to fight back—this is an occasion for crowns.

Each person must bear the weaknesses of others. Who is perfect? Who can boast that he has kept his heart undefiled? Hence, we are all sick, and whoever condemns his brother does not perceive that he himself is sick, because a sick person does not condemn another sick person.

Love, endure, overlook, do not get angry, do not flare up, forgive one another, so that you resemble our Christ and are counted worthy to be near Him in His kingdom. My children, avoid condemnation—it is a very great sin. God is greatly saddened when we condemn and loathe people. Let us concern ourselves only with our own faults—for these we should feel pain. Let us condemn ourselves and then we shall find mercy and grace from God.

Love one another, and do not be embittered out of egotism. Humility is a sure guide; it does not let the one who possesses it hit the reefs of carelessness and be shipwrecked, but as a luminous guide it leads him faultlessly on sure ground. Egotism is the most evil of evils; it causes all our lapses through un-submissive thoughts. Fear this and strive to get rid of it, for the more it remains within us, the more it will wound us with the proportionate pain. I beg that you not criticize one another, for this is downright egotism.

Excuse your brother’s fault; this is evidence of humility and love. The brother who acts thus will find much grace from God, but he who judges and scandalizes his neighbor should know that not only will he not find grace, but even if he has something he will lose it, so that he may learn the lesson of humility through suffering. Be particularly afraid of inner criticism, that is, thoughts of criticism, because it does not come to light through the spoken word, in which case it is likely to be corrected by someone who hears it.

Be careful, I say, about criticism from within, which imperceptibly makes us fatally guilty and deprives us of the life of divine grace and offers as a most bitter drink the death of the soul. I pray that love and freedom from criticism will reign in every expression among you, so that the Holy Spirit may rest in your souls.

We Shall See Him As He Is by Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, ISBN 0-9512786-4-9

Wisdom. Let Us Attend: Job, The Fathers, and The Old Testament by Johanna Manley, ISBN: 0-9622536-4-2

Words of Life by Archimandrite Sophrony, Trans. by Sister Magdalen, ISBN1-874679-11-8

Writings from The Philokalia On Prayer of The Heart, Trans. by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer, ISBN: 0-571-16393-9

This is a journal of my experience as

an Orthodox Christian with an

emphasis on my inner struggle, in

particular; the search for the 'heart'

and its purification, which is the way

to God and to our participation in

His Uncreated Energy.It includes photos and stories of my

travels to Greece, Serbia, Israel and

England.

An Orthodox Pilgrim

"Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matthew 7:14

“Bear in mind that for cleansing your heart from sins you will obtain an infinite reward- you will see God, your most gracious creator, your providence. The work of cleansing the heart is difficult, because it is connected with great privations and afflictions; and therefore, the reward is great. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’Matt. 5:8 St John of Kronstadt

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'The soul that has known the Lord

wants to see Him within her at all

times, for the Lord enters the soul

in quietness and gives her peace,

and bears silent witness to

salvation" St Silouan of Athos

"At the edge of your heart the Lord is standing with a tall candle that burns without smoking or melting. The Lord is standing and waiting at your invitation, to bring the candle into your heart and enlighten it, to burn up all the fear in your heart, all its selfish passions and all its ugly desires, and to drive out of your heart all the smoke and foul stench. At the edge of your mind the Lord is standing with His wisdom and with His Word, ready, at your invitation, to enter into it and drive out all its foolish thoughts, all its filthy fancies, and all its mistaken notions, and to erase from your mind all nonexistent images — the Lord is standing and waiting to introduce His reason, His seals, and His words." St Nikolai Velimirovich in Prayers by the Lake LXXIX

A Prayer by St Dimitri of Rostov

Open, O doors and bolts of my heart that Christ the King of Glory may enter!Enter, O my Light and enlighten my darkness;enter, O my Life, and resurrect my deadness;enter, O my Physician and heal my wounds;enter, O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins;ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of Thy love;enter, O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin;sit on the throne of my heart and alone reign in me,O Thou, my King and Lord.

The Heart is the Battlefield of Our Salvation

What is the heart?, "Thus, asthe bodily heart is the centerof the body's life, the spiritualheart is the center of ourspiritual life",Fr Spyridon Logothetis

Where is the heart? "The heartis within our chest. When wespeak of the heart, we speak ofour spiritual heart which coinci-des with the fleshly one; butwhen man receives illuminationand sanctification, then hiswhole being becomes a heart".Fr Zacharias Zacharou

"(God) is the One who hasfashioned the heart of every manin an unique and unrepeatable way"Fr Zacharias Zacharou.

"It is astonishingly great that Godthe Father, poured from His Spirita noetic sensation (noera aesthisis)or breath to the bodily hearts ofthose who rightly believed in theincarnate Logos". St Kallistos

A heart that has been made aliveby the waters of holy baptism andregeneration of the Holy Spirit hasthe kingdom of God within, "thekingdom of God is within you".Luke 17:21

"Since the kingdom of God is withinus, the heart is the battlefield ofour salvation, and all ascetic effortis aimed at cleansing it of allfilthiness, and preserving it purebefore the Lord". Fr Zacharias

The darkness and desolation of aheart ravished by sin is indeedapalling. In a heart that has notbeen purified, "there aredragons and there are lions;there are poisonous beasts andall the treasures of evil".St Macarius

"For it is within you, that is, itdepends upon your own wills, andit is in your own power, whetheror not you receive it. For everyman who has attained tojustification by means of faith inChrist, and is adorned by allvirtue, is counted worthy of thekingdom of heaven".St Cyril of Alexandria

And with the kingdom we receiveall the treasures of Grace. "Butthere is also God, also the angels,the life and the kingdom, the lightand the apostles, the treasures ofGrace -there are all things".St Macarius

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.Lead me in the path of yourcommandments, for I delight in it.Turn my heart to your decrees, andnot to selfish gain.Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.Psalm 119:34-37

Prayer of Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex

"Oh Lord, I am weak. Thou knowest

this. In fear I seek the way to Thee.

Despise me not. Forsake me not in

my fall. Draw near even unto me,

who am of no account, yet I thirst

after Thee. Take up Thine abode

in me and do Thou Thyself perform

in me all that Thou hast

commanded of us. Make me Thine

for ever and ever, in love

unshakeable."

Recommended Reading List is at the bottom of the posts.

About Me

I am a lay Orthodox Christian.
Education: B.Sc. Biology and Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, P.R.; The George Washington University, Medical Technology, Associate member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology